Transferring files between devices has always been something of an issue, especially when it’s a matter of transferring them between devices running different platforms. iPhones won’t allow Bluetooth File Sharing, macOS has a really really bad Bluetooth radio, and the problems just don’t seem to stop. This is exactly why a plethora of applications have thrived around solving this very problem. In all these applications boasting of a variety of features, one application stands out – Send Anywhere (free). The cross-platform application aims to solve these problems by being easy to use, fast, and available on platforms you probably didn’t even think of, like Amazon Kindle. They even have a plugin for WordPress! Even Samsung partnered with Send Anywhere for the feature on the all new Galaxy S8. So, we decided to try it out, and here is our review of Send Anywhere:
Introduction and First Impressions
Send Anywhere is an application born out of the need to solve the very common problem of transferring large files between devices. The application solves this by supporting a large number of platforms, and extending file size limits to an extent where it becomes basically unlimited for most use-cases you may encounter.
Since the app supports macOS, and iOS, I decided to try it out on my MacBook Air, running macOS Sierra 10.2.3, and my iPhone running iOS 10.3.2 Public Beta. Launching the app for the first time, I was pretty happy to see the well-designed, minimal interface, along with a naming scheme that makes the functions of every option very clear. The desktop app comes with a clean interface with well arranged regions for sending/receiving buttons, nearby devices, and the transferred files, if any.
On the iOS app, Send Anywhere chooses to separate file types into separate tabs, with the functions for sending/receiving files, viewing the activity, and “more” options in their own tabs.
The Android app is a lot similar in design, and chooses to separate different file types in separate tabs, while keeping the “Send”, “Receive”, and “Activity” functions in a bottom navigation menu. Send Anywhere supports “WiFi Direct” on Android, which basically allows you to leverage the full speed of WiFi networks, without using a single byte of your data, it’s awesome, and can really come in handy for large file transfers.
Use Cases
Since the app supports so many platforms, it is already in a good place as far as my opinion goes, and an app like this obviously has a lot of use cases, and a lot of ways in which it can be used.
1. First, the app can be used to transfer files between devices running on different platforms, without the usual restriction of email attachment sizes, or the poor speed of WiFi. Send Anywhere has apps for almost every platform out there… heck, it’s also available for Windows Mobile!
2. With the Chrome Extension, you won’t need to adhere to the 25 MB attachment limit that Gmail sets in email attachments; Send Anywhere can directly send files up to 10 GB in size to the recipient.
3. There’s also an Outlook Mail Add-in, if that’s your preferred email client. Send-Anywhere can easily remove the 20MB attachment limit, and increase it to 10GB.
4. Another really cool way of sharing files with Send Anywhere is “Share Link”. This method is awesome because the receiver doesn’t need to have Send Anywhere installed. In the “Share Link” method, you get a link which you can share with the receiver, and they can simply go there and download the files within 48 hours. This is a useful feature for sending files to people who may not have Send Anywhere installed.
What’s more, if you’re using Send Anywhere on your Android device, you can generate the link directly from your favourite messenger. This is known as “Quick Link Share“, and it’s awesome!
5. Another cool thing in Send Anywhere are the music and video players that are built right into the iOS app. So, you can just send yourself a music file, and directly play it in Send Anywhere. The music app offers functionality like sharing the song, using AirPlay to stream it to an Apple TV and more.
6. The video player in the iOS app is where things really get awesome. The Send Anywhere video player offers features like swiping to seek the video, swiping up/down on the left side to adjust brightness, and on the right side to adjust volume. It’s really great, and very intuitive, and you’ll never really need to use the Videos app to play your videos again.
7. However, the best part is the web widget. You can just go to the Send-Anywhere website, and add the files you want to send. This will generate a 6-digit key, as well as a QR code, which you can then use to transfer the files directly from the browser. With the web widget you can effortlessly transfer files up to 2GB in size!
Transferring Files: Ease of Use and Transfer Speed
Moving on to the main region of interest – transferring files – it was nice to see an app perform this well over a wireless network. Transferring files using Send Anywhere is easy. It’s almost too easy, and the transfer speeds I got were great, considering it was a wireless transfer.
- In order to transfer files from the macOS app, to the iPhone, all you have to do is click on the “Send” button.
- Then, just choose a file, and click on “Send”.
- The app then generates a 6-digit key, a link, and a QR-code.
- On the iOS app, you can simply head over to the “Receive” tab. Here, you can either enter the 6-digit key, or tap on the QR code icon on the top right, and scan the QR code being displayed on the desktop app.
- Recognition is nice and fast, and the files begin transferring quickly. Fortunately, the app displays the progress in percentage, and in the amount of data transferred. While the app does show the time remaining, it doesn’t show the speed of transfer, which is why I had to use a crude stopwatch method to check that.
The speed that Send Anywhere got was good, especially considering the fact that it was a wireless transfer, over a network that doesn’t really run that fast. I tried transferring a ~950MB video file to my iPhone, and it took a little over 5 minutes to complete, which means that data transfer was ~3MBps (yes, Megabytes).
Send Anywhere: One of the Best Transfer Apps
All in all, Send Anywhere (free) has definitely made it to the top of my personal favourites when it comes to file transferring apps, partly because it’s almost completely cross-platform, and mostly because it’s easy to use, and has a great transfer speed. There is almost nothing wrong with the app, and if you decide to give it a shot (you really should), you’re going to love it. Unless you’re using a Blackberry, in which case, well… sorry. Bottom line is that Send Anywhere is an amazing, fast, and easy to use file transfer application, that (thanks to it’s cross platform implementation) will let you easily transfer files to almost any device you own and use.
As always, do let us know your thoughts on Send Anywhere, and share your experience with us, in the comments section below.
Abubakar Mohammed
